September 22: Who Is The Best Man For The Job?

Ayo Akinola is an aide to Governor Rauf Aregbesola. He is a media strategist as well as an accomplished publisher. He is also the coordinator of a socio-political mobilisation group, Osun Renaissance Group for Continuity. He spoke in Osogbo with select correspondents. 

In Remembrance Of Times Past

• AYO AKINOLA

What does your group stand for?

Prior to the 2014 election, the political atmosphere was tense. The then ruling party at the national level wanted to do everything undemocratic to make sure the incumbent, Rauf Aregbesola, does not return despite his populist appeal in Osun and beyond. They saw him as a thorn in their flesh because of his revolutionary stance in all areas of governance. They were too myopic to appreciate what he was doing to change things for the better. So, everything was put in place to make sure he lost, including financial disconnections. Some of we professionals from Osun, who live outside cannot just sit down and watch this man whom we know, by his first term performance, is here to work, not to steal, to be trounced just like that. We met and decided that even if we don’t have deep pockets, we should deploy our professional competence and connections to safe the situation, no matter how little. We also agreed among ourselves that we were not going to approach government because we didn’t want to be seen as hustlers. We didn’t even need to have personal relationship with the top government officials. We were all successful in our various callings. Our activities paid off. Then, we were operating under the name Oranmiyan Continuity Support Group. Today, even the blind can feel what this government has achieved while the deaf can see it. It is this same group that has transmuted into Osun Renaissance Group for Continuity under my leadership to support Oyetola. It is purely to assist in continuity of the outgoing government. You cannot just sit down and watch. In those days, professionals were not known to openly take stand, but today and in our own case, we have no apology to be biased because we can’t afford to go back to the sordid past.

Q: In Osun today, politics is in high tempo. What can you say?

Well, it is natural that in an election year, as the election D-Day draws nearer, the tempo of activities will get hotter by the day. Again, this is a transitional period and as you are aware, the outgoing Governor, Rauf Aregbesola has made an indelible footprint on the sands of time which has wooed quite a number of interests in the people wanting to be governor, from the ruling party to other parties. You will agree with me that if the man has messed up the place like some governors nearby, the interest of people coming in to seek for the position would have been very limited. This is the first time in the history of the state that such a huge number of aspirants and candidates would come up to seek the governorship seat. This means that someone has brought dignity to the office such that people from diverse backgrounds want to build on the good foundation of Ogbeni. But because of politics, many of the aspirants from the other parties would not want to admit this. It is understandable. They will prefer to rubbish his achievements thinking that rubbishing him will sway votes in their favour. But let me tell you this: I’m a social scientist, a sociologist and anthropologist to be precise, trained in Great Ife. We have done our research among the masses of the people. What we discovered is instructive. We found out that the awareness of the teeming masses, those you will refer to as illiterates, is even far greater than those of the average educated elite. They are very honest and they know who their true friends are. And this constitutes the mass of voters anywhere. They queue up come rain come shine to vote whereas elites like you, yes…you, will sit in front of television to make armchair comments on the election day.

Q: There is this insinuation that the candidate of the ruling party, Gboyega Oyetola, is an imposition by the leaders of the ruling party. What is your take on this?

I don’t understand what you mean by imposition. Was he eminently qualified? Yes, and in fact, he has an enviable career in the private and public sectors.  Was there a primary? Yes. Were all the aspirants given equal opportunity? Yes. Remember that each and every one of the aspirants went through the same rigorous process through which one of them emerged. Let me tell you this: if the party had wanted to smuggle in anyone, it would not have gone through the novel direct primary in the first place. It is more convenient for a Governor or the party hierarchy to impose through the indirect mode. You all know the influence which governors wield. What many do not know is that the man that eventually emerged, Alhaji Gboyega Oyetola, because of his peculiar nature, is not a noise maker who wants to announce or plant his influence at every opportunity, which many did not see as strength. He is a quiet achiever. He has been a silent care-giver in the grassroots and has therefore won the hearts of the citizenry which many of the other aspirants did not reckon with. Do you know that most of the other aspirants quickly conceded victory immediately he was declared winner? They were unequivocal in conceding victory and even accepted to campaign for his eventual victory at the polls because he was well respected as the natural successor to the outgoing governor. Those who decided not to accept and eventually left the party, a couple of them though, we already know beforehand that they weren’t loyal to the party ab-initio. The direct primary which they complained of is the most democratic form, devoid of manipulations. No wonder the national hierarchy of the party adopted it after the Osun litmus test. Even some of the other parties are quietly adopting it. It gives the grassroots the opportunity to choose whomsoever they want to emerge as the candidate of the party. I think their grouse has to do with the fact that their plans to manipulate through the indirect primary were aborted.

What are some of his antecedents?

Thank you.  Oyetola is a certified insurance broker, entrepreneur and politician. He had 30 years experience in the private sector before joining government. He served in Governor Rauf Aregbesola’s eight-year-administration as Chief of Staff. Unknown to many political observers outside Osun state, Oyetola has been achieving political feats without attracting attention to himself since 1997.

Despite the enormous influence he wields, he is reticent, humble and unassuming. Although he is perceived as the major pillar behind the Rauf Aregbesola administration, he has never displayed the peculiar trait of a political gladiator. He is loyal, non-combative and goal-oriented.

Unlike some chiefs of staff in other states who have earned public condemnation, in time of crises, Oyetola has handled government/union relations successfully, thereby earning the applause of political leaders and civil servants in the State of Osun.

Oyetola is among prominent Nigerians who founded Alliance for Democracy, AD, in 1998. The politician had remained a notable figure in the political party in Osun so much that when the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, birthed, he was one of the party’s notable chieftains.

Which other attributes endear the people and the party to him?

Adegboyega Oyetola is a pronounced technocrat as well as a progressive politician. His ideals of transformative leadership as a tool of service for the greater good drew him into politics. His great courage remains a source of admiration and his political sagacity is well acknowledged across all political divides.” As once analysed, he is one of the few repositories of knowledge and a fountain of wisdom from which many emerging and existing politicians drink to their own benefits or whom they can only ignore to their eternal damnation.

Gboyega believes that grassroots politics is the surest way of making the elected leaders listen to the needs, aspirations and problems of their people and take practical steps to meeting these needs. He remains a champion of grassroots politics with a continuous track record till date. His influence in local levels has become a major and popular yardstick for measuring the success of his contemporaries.

Quiet generosity is the capstone to Gboyega Oyetola remarkable life.

Philanthropy remains his “second act,” a role through which he has helped thousands of people who never had the pleasure of knowing him except through his personal giving. Many of his gestures are geared towards empowering young people for sustainable livelihood. He is also known for giving scholarships to students to acquire tertiary education. In the last 25 years, not less than 400 students have benefitted from his scholarship grants.

But he is hardly heard in the public space…..

Everyone has his or her own peculiar nature which some see as weakness but reverse is the case here. In fact, his quiet mien is a plus because as a Chief of Staff, you are supposed to be on your desk at all time and not a chatterbox. You can’t even have the time for politicking. By nature, Isiaka Oyetola is a near perfectionist in words, conduct, appearance and actions. Indeed, a man of very few words but astonishingly cerebral, technically and administratively equipped with needed information and applied knowledge on skills and mastery of creative and inventive governance of this age and time. He has served and is still serving actively to the philosophy and ideals of democratic tenets and principles towards ensuring that the greatest good in terms of deliverables and dividends of democracy is centered around the people to the service of the human race.

He is an enigma whose intellectual wizardry and financial management are equally legendary.